Without working out, you can take creatine. The liver and kidneys produce the molecule creatine in the body naturally. Methionine, glycine, and arginine are three of the amino acids found in them. Creatine is essential for the availability of energy. It has numerous advantages for both general physical and mental health in addition to assisting with muscle mass development.
To keep your body’s energy reserves intact, creatine is necessary. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body’s main energy source, is regenerated with its assistance. So, if you’re taking a break from strength training or exercising altogether, is creatine still beneficial? Creatine can still help you increase your strength and muscle mass even if you don’t exercise. Regular use of creatine can boost your strength and enhance your physical and mental well-being.
What is Creatine?
Methionine, glycine, and arginine are the three amino acids that make up the molecule creatine, which the liver and kidneys naturally produce in the body. Creatine plays a big part in energy availability.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body’s primary source of energy, is used to fuel each and every biological process that takes place inside your body, so it’s crucial for regeneration.
The body maintains fairly substantial creatine stores, with about 95% of the creatine present in the body stored in skeletal muscles as phosphocreatine and the remaining 5% distributed between the brain and testes 1. Muscles store creatine, which is a crucial element in the regeneration of ATP.
All bodily processes, including muscle contraction, are powered by an ongoing flow of ATP. Any activity comes to a screeching halt when ATP is not renewed at a rapid enough rate, which most likely means your training session ends early.
Can You Take Creatine Without Working Out
Enhancing workout performance is one of the main reasons people choose to take creatine. If you’re not going to train, taking creatine supplements wouldn’t be much of a benefit because they increase energy availability, which results in improved work capacity and bigger muscle gains.
Creatine supplementation may improve neurological and cognitive function, according to studies. Higher brain creatine levels have been linked in studies to enhanced neuropsychological performance. It may also help with cognitive function that has been hampered by lack of sleep and/or age-related natural impairment.
Additionally, a review found that taking creatine helped older adults perform better and had benefits for their strength, endurance, muscle mass, bone mineral density, and performance, some of which occurred even in the absence of concurrent exercise.
Effects of Taking Creatine Without Working Out
Your Body Fills Its Creatine Reserves
Each muscle cell in your body has a specific amount of creatine it can store. These are known as “creatine reserves”.
Taking creatine is essentially an effort to keep these reserves full. When your body’s energy reserves are full, it has plenty of it available to provide your muscles with additional energy when they require it, such as during a workout.
Check out this article I wrote on the phases of creatine loading if you want to make sure that your reserves are replenished as soon as possible. It might speed things up by 75%!
These reserves won’t be used up as quickly if you aren’t exercising, though. This implies that any extra creatine you might take the following day will essentially be wasted.
Your Body Excretes More Creatine
The majority of the creatine in your body will go to waste because you aren’t exercising and have an abundance of it.
In this case, your body will make an unsuccessful attempt to add more creatine to your reserves. However, this is safe; do not be concerned.
When this occurs, you will merely eliminate the extra creatine through urination. If you don’t start working out, this will happen every day you take creatine, wasting both the supplement and your money.
More Energy for Simple Activities
Your everyday life will benefit from this same idea. Your body uses creatine to fuel your muscles every single minute, regardless of whether you’re exercising.
This indicates that taking creatine has given your body more energy than it would have had otherwise for daily tasks and activities.
Creatine needs to be replenished in some way, whether it’s through your diet or supplements, just from moving around and using your hands and arms.
Increased Water Weight
Whether or not you exercise, this will still occur.
Your muscles’ creatine binds to and stores water with it. Even if you aren’t working out, this can make your muscles appear bigger! Unfortunately, it’s only a facade, and you won’t get any stronger in reality.
Creatine might result in some bloating either way. Although you can fight it, most people who take it regardless of the consequences eventually succumb to it.
You May Become Thirstier
This is another that occurs whether you are lifting or not, but it might get worse if you are not.
Creatine makes you retain more water weight, as I already mentioned. Water from other areas of your body is drained when this occurs.
You risk dehydrating other areas of your body as a result, which is unfortunate. Therefore, it is crucial that you consume a lot of water.
In addition to the fact that drinking more water is important, failing to do so will probably leave you uncomfortable and thirsty.
You’ll probably notice that you need to use the restroom frequently if you’re not exercising at all, your body has a lot of creatine to cycle in and out, and you’re drinking more water.
Yes, it is annoying, but it isn’t much you can do about it. Make sure you drink enough water throughout the day despite how annoying it is.
Upset Stomach from Too Much Creatine
Creatine is known to upset people’s stomachs, even if they regularly exercise or lift weights. Because creatine must travel through your digestive system so quickly, this may become even worse if you don’t exercise frequently.
Normally, your body converts creatine into ATP and then into energy after it has reached your reserves. On the other hand, as I’ve already mentioned a few times, your body has to get rid of the extra creatine when your reserves are already full.
The creatine you take travels through your stomach, digestive system, and urinary system in a large loop if you aren’t exercising.
It’s possible to have serious digestive issues if your stomach is particularly sensitive. Starting a fitness regimen is the first thing I’d advise if you’re going through this. Some of your problems might get better as a result.
Benefits of Taking Creatine
It Benefits You on Rest Days
Contrary to popular belief, creatine is not a pre-or post-workout supplement. Instead, you ought to take supplements like those for caffeine, tyrosine, nitric oxide, etc., as pre and post-workout supplements. Muscles must have time to store creatine. It only makes sense that you take it on your days off.
It Can Help Build Muscle and Strength
If you combine creatine with an effective workout plan, your results will be better. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still increase your strength and muscle mass even if you don’t exercise.
Studies on both men and women show that consuming creatine even when not exercising can aid in increasing strength and muscle mass. Men have been known to gain 4 pounds more muscle mass simply by taking a creatine supplement on a regular basis and without working out.
It Can Help Maintain Your Strength and Muscle Mass
Let’s say you are ill or injured, and you will be unable to exercise for a few weeks. Or, perhaps a recent schedule change has left you without enough time to exercise.
The strength and muscle mass you’ve gained during this time can be maintained by taking creatine. It aids in preventing the loss of strength and muscle that can occur as a result of going for extended periods without using the gym.
Your Response Time Will Increase When You Start Working Out Again
When you are unable to exercise, creatine will help you keep your muscle and strength. Additionally, it enables you to recover more quickly once you rejoin the gym following an injury or a lengthy absence.
Compared to not taking creatine, your muscles will respond to your workouts better.
It Helps Build Overall Stamina
Everyone has a friend or family member who could use an energy boost to get them moving more. Creatine might be a solution for you if you have lost muscle mass and strength as a result of aging or a recent injury and are unable to carry out daily tasks without becoming exhausted.
Creatine can assist in regaining your lost energy and increasing your strength. Taking a creatine supplement on a regular basis will help your muscles grow stronger and give you more energy so you can get more done each day.
It Can Help Control Your Blood Sugar
Your health is impacted by high blood sugar. Among other negative effects, it causes a decline in energy and a bad mood. Your overall health and mood stability will benefit from stable blood sugar levels.
Creatine aids in keeping blood sugar levels steady. You will notice a significant increase in energy levels as a result of taking creatine and combining it with a healthy diet.
With the help of creatine, your body’s cells can take up the glucose that comes from sugar and carbohydrates rather than letting it circulate in your bloodstream and lower your energy levels.
Additionally, it prevents this sugar from turning into excess fat and accumulating in your body.
It Can Improve Your Focus
Red meat and pork are the best food sources of creatine. Low levels of creatine can occur in vegetarians and people who don’t consume a lot of meat.
Regularly ingesting a creatine supplement can help your body regain these low levels and give you more energy for concentration while thinking and problem-solving.
Summary
After all of that, creatine is one of those supplements that, if you’re training hard, provides the best value for your money.
You’ll experience a pump unlike any other thanks to its quick ATP regeneration, and you can maintain that pump for more pronounced muscle hypertrophy and a more effective recovery afterward.
According to the available research, creatine might have additional non-training advantages, but its impact on muscle growth and recovery continues to be its main function.
